Echoes
by feedthegrimmjows
Summary: Her thoughts are scattered when she sees him again on the streets of Konoha, the haunting memories of the past giving her pause. SasukeIno, oneshot


_**Disclaimer:**_ _I don't own Naruto._

 _ **Summary: Her thoughts are scattered when she sees him again on the streets of Konoha, the haunting memories of the past giving her pause. SasukeIno, oneshot**_

 _Okay, I haven't written Naruto for so long, or watched it, but I've read up on how it ends. And this is just a little AU version of Sasuke's return to Konoha, and Ino's perspective on it. I just wanted to write a little something to get me back into the spirit of writing, so maybe I can write more soon. I missed this fandom - missed the anime fandom in general. But I've been so uninspired as of late. I do hope y'all enjoy this little piece._

* * *

 **Echoes**

* * *

 _He's back._

The thought is almost a casual one, what with the way it crosses her mind. However, the implications of those words are anything but.

Ino takes this chance to study him. The very action of her eyes raking over him is almost invasive, it seems. Nostalgia washes over her in a wave - _just how many times had she done this as a young girl?_ She almost scoffs. She had been so foolish back then, so blind, so concerned with things that - when looked at through a larger scope - were pointless.

He's different, of course. That much should be obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes - or, really, any keen senses at all.

He's darker. Changed. And that darkness has been brought into her Konoha. She fights the urge to grasp one of the knives strapped to her thigh.

 _Threat_ , her subconscious whispers. _Danger._

And, even louder, _Sasuke._

She forces herself to be still as she watches him pass, alongside Naruto. The fellow blonde gives her an exuberant smile, as usual, but one that is tinged with... _something._ Ino can't quite put her finger on it, exactly. It darkens even his normal, effortless brightness.

Ino keeps her eyes on them as they pass, ignoring the twinge in her chest as she watches the sunlight catch on Sasuke's hair. His beauty still is capable of stopping her breath, even after all this time, and there's a part of her that hates herself for it.

For a moment, Sasuke's dark eyes slide to meet her own clear ones. Ino ignores the hotness this action spikes in her blood. She doesn't back down, keeps her eyes firmly locked with his until the two nin pass her shop. And only then does she let out a breath.

Ino slides back into the flower shop and wipes her sweaty palms on her apron. She finds that her jaw is aching and it is only then that she realizes she is gritting her teeth. She doesn't let up, however. If anything, she clenches her jaw tighter.

"Sasuke." There's his name again, except as a verbalization and not a thought. The name itself feels like it should not be said, as if it is the most forbidden thing. She inhales sharply.

 _He's back._

 _He's back._

 _He's back._

For a moment, she stares at the flowers in front of her - they are a mournful white. Calm, serene, borderline sorrowful.

 _Appropriate._

The blonde then closes her eyes once more, as if steeling herself for something horrible - even more horrible than what had been presented to her just moments ago.

Millions of thoughts run through her head, images and words and moments, moments that Ino thought she had forgotten, moments that Ino wishes she had forgotten, moments better off banished to a far off corner of her mind.

Sasuke, alone on the playground.

Sasuke, frowning over his school work.

Sasuke, effortlessly practicing complicated jutsu.

Sasuke, smiling in amusement at her.

And then, the empty spaces where Sasuke used to be.

The empty spaces that are now overflowing.

Again, the clenching of her heart stops her dead in her tracks.

With an unsteady hand, she brushes her fingers over the soft petals of the flower - pale as milk, pale as Sasuke's brow.

An even more unsteady breath leaves her, as Yamanaka Ino turns and goes back to work, haunted by echoes of the past.

* * *

 _ **End.**_


End file.
